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Recently, the New York Times published an article featuring Jason M. Allen’s victory in the annual art competition at the Colorado State Fair. He crafted his winning image, named ‘Théâtre D’Opéra Spatial,’ using Midjourney (Roose, 2022). Midjourney is an artificial intelligence system that can produce unique images from short text descriptions (Midjourney documentation and user guide, z.d.). 

Allen shared his winning image on Twitter, prompting emotive reactions from fellow artist. Some tweeted “we’re watching the death of artistry unfold right before our eyes” while others expressed, “this is so gross” (Roose, 2022). These responses initiate controversial discussions about the role of AI in the art world. Does integrating AI systems in the creation of artworks contribute to new masterpieces, or does it hinder human creativity?

After reading these responses, I found myself intrigued and eager to experiment with AI image creation. Over the past few years, I’ve used Canva for creating creative posters and flyers. Recently, I discovered the innovative ‘Magic Switch’ feature. Canva has seamlessly integrated AI technology to convert personal designs or texts into entirely new content (Tucker, 2023). Reflecting on my travels last summer to San Francisco, I decided to challenge Canva by requesting a sketch that combines the iconic Golden Gate bridge with the Erasmus Bridge. In just one second, the application generated a sketch featuring both bridges (figure 1). With a few other clicks, I could effortlessly modify the settings and styles, transitioning from dreamy images to realistic photos or sketches. While I acknowledge that I couldn’t have achieved such results manually in the same timeframe, I also empathize with the frustrated artists who argue that AI cannot replace human creativity. 

While I acknowledge the potential for collaboration between artists and AI as a source of inspiration for new ideas and designs, my preference persists: I will always favor a painting crafted over a couple of months by the artist personally rather than one generated with just a few clicks. 

(figure 1)

References:

Midjourney documentation and user guide. (z.d.). https://docs.midjourney.com/

Roose, K. (2022, 2 september). AI-Generated art won a prize. artists aren’t happy. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/technology/ai-artificial-intelligence-artists.html

Tucker, J. (2023, October 4). Canva Magic Switch – Canva Templates. Canva Templates. https://canvatemplates.com/canva-magic-switch/

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Dive into the wild ride of fashion weeks, where showing clothing alternatives and placing orders has disappeared and where AI has now firmly established its presence in the world of fashion.

Throughout history the aim of fashion weeks has been to promote local talent (Zhang et al., 2022) and to showcase designers’ interpretations of seasonal trends and styles (Pulikottil-Jacob, 2022). However, thanks to the digital revolution, fashion weeks have evolved beyond their traditional role. They have become a week of international sensation, enabling brands to connect with their audience through new technologies (Bringé, z.d.).

Coperni, a high-fashion brand, has seamlessly integrated AI into its runway shows across various fashion weeks. During Paris Fashion week, anyone interested could witness Bella Hadid spray-painted in a dress through online virtuality. Recently, Coperni unveiled a polymorphic story, inspired from the fable ‘The Wolf and the Lamb’, to illustrate the relationship between humans and technology.

This polymorphic video will run live for six months, unveiling a fresh story every 40 seconds. Each story is based on multiple choices of sets, scenarios, or looks from their collection. After the six months, there will be 320.000 different stories generated (Coperni, 2023). The music and voiceovers in the video are created from three main tracks that have been decomposed into numerous versions (Coperni,2023). But how is Coperni bringing this futuristic story to life? They are leveraging AI to create these ongoing variations, and the voice overs are produced by Chat Gpt. This tool is tasked to generate different text versions of the original fable ‘The Wolf and the Lamb’, which are then read by an AI-generated voice.

Technology is becoming a part of many different industries, even changing how fashion weeks happen compared to years ago. Now, as fashion and technology walk hand in hand, Coperni’s AI video is just the start. What new combination of fashion and tech will we see next?

References

Bringé, A. (z.d.). The Evolution of Fashion Week: where creativity meets digital transformation. www.linkedin.com. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/evolution-fashion-week-where-creativity-meets-digital-alison/

Coperni. (2023, 20 september). The Wolf and the Lamb – Fall/Winter 23 campaign [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxRNp1Ro2pw

Pulikottil-Jacob, R. (2022). Fashion weeks and customer experiences in emerging markets. In Springer eBooks (pp. 47–75). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07326-7_3

Zhang, X., Zhang, Y., Chen, T., & Qi, W. (2022). Decentralizing the Power of Fashion? Exploring the geographies and inter-place connections of fashion cities through Fashion Weeks. Urban Geography, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2022.2147742